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Oathalo
Oathalo is the coldest of Panoviin’s regions and at the highest altitude in the nation. Surrounding the mountainous terrain is a thin ring of forest and grasslands split by wide trodden-down paths stemming back to major cities and most importantly, The Harvest City in the South. Oathalo is overseen by the Northern Duke, and the province's seat is held by the Deneve Family; sat in the largest city, Erosha, with the family motto "By endurance and strive". Geography/People Most communities of Panoviin (although more proud here to establish themselves as Oathalan) situate themselves in the mountains—the second and broader inner ring, whilst the final inner circle used to generalise the region’s geography is home to the highest peak, the highest spire and mountain. This ‘circle’ is also home to the ruling noble family and the families with occupations in governing the region and or representing their interests in the noble council. Some of these families, in turn, own secondary homes or employ others living in the second ring. Those living there tend to work with the livestock and hardy winter cereals and crops Oathalo has mastered growing, despite the harsh conditions. Those in the second ring have recently been liberated in the sense that they are allowed to own their own land both in that ring and in the grasslands below, which proves invaluable with feeding livestock such as the humongous bison and thick-coated cattle Oathalo is notorious for breeding for both their thick coats harvested for clothing purposes in the spring, allowing them to grow back over the course of summer, and also for their meat and dairy. Previously, all was owned by the inner circle, whilst now there is a far larger sense of equality in ownership. Oathalo demonstrates two sorts of high-altitude climate. The inner circle is some eight and a half thousand feet above sea level—high plateaus dotted about mountains frequently shrouded in a cloud layer during early spring and the very start of autumn. Severe winter conditions then make routes from there to lower ground extremely dangerous and practically impassable; especially for non-locals. The biting winds and the cold itself naturally falls into the lower lands, although winds from neighbouring warmer regions keep the winters from being so outright lethal. Even so, a fair few are unfortunate enough to lose their lives to the harsh weather—pneumonia, hyperthermia and getting plainly lost in blizzard conditions are the largest annual killers to the people of Oathalo. This is aside attacks from wolves and ice-based creatures; wraiths, golems and winged sprites. Oathalans have, also, an innate gift in ice magic—this contributes to creating weapons, blockades and armour, alongside the ability to shape-shift existing bodies of ice. Water magic can stem from this also and is put to good use in the fields during the warmer months before freezing is a potential hazard. In order to try and prevent large numbers of the populations being swiftly wiped out every winter, a system of tunnels and passes operate in connecting the inner circle and ring. Because of the colder temperatures in these tunnels made from both ice and stone, with the former being highly unlikely to melt dramatically underground even during the summer, food can be stored safely and then defrosted later for consumption. Thanks to this system, the working families have good access to both landowners and the council alike, and a sustainable diet can be maintained when vegetables are out of season, for instance. It keeps the produce trade with The Harvest City and the other regions healthy, also. In summer, more than half of the region’s snow melts as temperatures have been recorded to reach a whopping fifteen degrees Celsius, thus creating the seasonal marshland further south in the North half of the country. Nothing lives nor grows consistently in the north-west of the inner circle, however. Where higher mountain peaks in the circle otherwise are seldom and infrequent, the north-west is the home to the highest—thereby, the most dangerous; easily piercing clouds and surpassing fifteen thousand feet high in altitude. Amongst these natural structures is an ancient spire known as The Tower of the Heavens. It is unknown how the tower came to be, however it is believed to be fashioned from the tallest mountain in the region and in turn, the country. The top of the towers has never been seen where it easily pierces the permanently residing clouds—the top of the tower is believed to meet the lowest floors of the heavens. Of course, the Panovites are not destined for the heavens in life to then return back down the tower. The highest level of the tower is constantly lighted and due to the altitude, hallucinations have been experienced, along with cases of vertigo, sickness and then, in very few extreme cases, death. Modern day science will tell us that this is the effect of high altitude, whilst the polytheistic belief of Panoviin leads the people to believe that over-exposure to the levels of the gods, possessions, and being delivered such strong and powerful messages cause these incidents to happen. History Once slavery was abolished in Panoviin little over a hundred years ago, in accordance to one such vision, the rigidly defiant noble captioned “Auber the Striker”, whom had refused to acknowledge these new laws, was overthrown by a hunger-strike turned coup supported by the farming and working masses by three noble families; the Seraphins, the Allards and the Deneves. This was the catalyst, the starting point for the Wars of the Spires—this initially gave way for a coalition leadership between the former two families once the Deneves were intimidated out of contending for power, but greed in turn turned to splitting the region into two opposing support groups for those families who took turns in beating each-other off the seat of power. The Deneve campaign for power was always deemed as the underdog’s sort, but after the ‘Winter’s Bite’ curse did little to nothing with weakening the strive, the connection made between the family and the people was shown to be far stronger than that with the self-absorbed Seraphins and Allards. This came into play alongside sympathy from The Harvest City and the Royal Family, in turn establishing the Deneve family’s place in power. With their place in power, the Deneve family seen to the division of foods, the keeping of the Tower of the Gods and keeping order also in the council and the region’s relations with the Royals and the other noble families. The conflict continued for two more years before the opposing families either were banished or went into hiding followed a paranoid and vengeful means of execution plans. This cautious attitude is reflected amongst the population, where trust is hard to gain and kept within friends and closed circles amongst workforces and differ from farm to farm—even though, under the Deneve government which has since been active and undisturbed after four successive rulers, inner conflict amongst the Oathalans has minimised. They reserve their most brittle behaviour for outsiders, and following the Wars, they have become quite cynical of the gods, but also show to be one region majorly free of discriminations between half-bloods and full-bloods. Women, however, are sternly observed to have lower rank than male counterparts. The current noble governing Oathalo is The Most Steady, High Lord Tybalt Deneve. His wife, The Most Soft and Verdant, High Lady Adabelle, died admist a cruel winter whilst bearing his son, Jervace, who was named his father's heir. Lord Tybalt’s eldest child and daughter, The Most Honourable and Impatient, Lady Yseult, has taken to becoming the Lord’s bodyguard—hoping more to protect her brother when he becomes the High Lord.